Rose Red City of Petra

 We woke bright and eagerly on Thursday anticipating the sights we would see that morning.  We had been warned that we would be walking a lot so we put on our comfy shoes, ate a big breakfast and made our way to the lobby for our 7 am meeting time with our guide, Sammy.  Sammy has lived in Petra all of his life and was the perfect person to take us on a not so routine tour of the enormous site.

With our hotel being directly across the street from the main entrance, we were in the gates with our tickets in hand just after it opened.  It was the best time to get there because even though it was still a bit hazy from the dust clearing, and a bit chilly since the sun was barely awake, there were also no crowds.  In fact, we may have passed a max of 10 people on our walk in. 

Petra is vast.  It is an entire ancient city, carved by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago, that turned this whole area into an important junction on the trade routes that linked China, India and the Arab worlds with Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome.  Somewhere along the way, the city was completely lost and forgotten about for over 300 years until it was stumbled upon in 1812.  Johann Burckhardt was touring the area and persuaded his guide to take him to the fabled Lost City.  Now, it is one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  And once you visit, you can totally see why.  Because I can write about it all day long and nothing will ever prepare you to see it in person,  It truly does have to be seen to be believed.

The first sight of Petra's best-known artifact, The Treasury.  You spy it between the cracks in The Siq, a 1.2-kilometer gorge split by a natural geological fault.

 Known in Arabic as Al Khazna, the Treasury is massive, a  full 40 meters tall (over 120 feet) and it is decorated with pillars, friezes and figures.  There is even a local legend that says that the funerary urn at the top contains a pharooh's treasure (it is the Treasury after all).  It is estimated to have been carved in the 1st century BC and, as with all of the other carved structures, it was done from the top down.  Why?  Because the sanstone it is carved in is very soft and when carved from the bottom to the top it just crumbles.

After the Treasury, we climbed up, up, up and Sammy took us to some out of the way spots that most tourists don't get to see because they are off of the beaten path.  And he took some crazy pictures of us too...

The views were absolutely amazing and I couldn't keep the girls from climbing every single little ridge they saw just to see where it might lead.  Sammy was very easy going and let them wander while also telling us the history behind what we were seeing.

 View of the Theatre.

 They did get a quick rest before going at it again.

These colors were unbelievable.  As we walked though the Royal Tombs (exacly what they sound like) there were so many different shades and textures it was almost too much to believe.  They looked painted.  And I guess they were, just by Mother Nature and not by human hands.

 Spices of the Kings - including the gifts given to baby Jesus - Frankincense and Myyrh.

It was time for Sammy to bid us adieu.  We had a bit more exploring to do and with such a vast area to cover we knew we only had time to see a small part of it.  Wanting to see the most impressive and important parts, we asked Sammy before he left what the absolute must would be in his opinion and, without hesitation he answered, "The Monastery".  And then we were also quickly warned it was a hike.  And by hike he meant it is over 850 uneven steps winding up and around.  Knowing that it was going to be challenge for us we opted to let the girls take a donkey ride up to the delight of both girls.

 We set off at a pretty good clip but with their leader holding the reins it was ok if they got a bit ahead.  Though as you can see from the pictures, I think MadHatter was older than he was.  Somehow, about 1/2 the way up, our guide found his aunt, stopped at her shop for tea.  In doing so, he let go of the reins and the girls were on their own with the donkey's just going and going and going.  I tried my darndest to keep up for awhile but they are in much better shape than I am so I said a little prayer and off they went out of my sight.  Crazy, right?

They made it just fine. (I have a feeling these donkey's do this many times a day, every day).  And the Monastery was worth the trip.  The girls thought so too.   But they had rested for the 1/2 hour walk up so they were ready to climb.  Which they did like mountain goats.  B and I on the other hand took the opportunity to rest.

After a bit of tea and some chips, we tackled the 850 stairs back down and, even though we were exhausted and would have loved a horse carriage ride, we opted to walk it all the way from start to finish.

Which resulted in having walked more than I think I have ever walked by 1:30 in the afternoon.  We had been at it since 7:30 and had covered over 6.6 miles before lunch.  If you were Stinkerbell, you had taken even more steps because of those little legs.  We stopped for a very interesting grilled cheese sandwich and  headed over to the hotel for a little pool time and rest because we weren't done with Petra just yet...